Comments

NCAAB Picks

Maryland is off to a perfect start in college basketball just like our handicapper. One of these trends will not continue on Tuesday night as he looks to fade the Terps in this ACC/Big 10 Challenge game.

2015-16 NCAAB Record: 3-0, +3.00 Units

Apparently going 7-0 to start the season is not enough to crack the AP rankings. The undefeated Maryland Terrapins look to put another win in their cap to get them there as they host the 5-1 Pittsburgh Panthers on Tuesday night in an ACC/Big 10 Challenge game that will be aired on ESPN2. The opening odds have the Terrapins as a 4-point favorite on their home court against the Panthers. The early O/U total has been listed at 143.5 points over at BookMaker.

Maryland is coming off of a thrilling 69-68 win over Kansas State as a 3-point underdog. Even though the Terrapins are 7-0 SU to start the season, they are just 2-3 in games that have had a line offered, with those 2 ATS wins being when they were listed underdogs. Still, Kansas State was undefeated coming into that game and was favored to win at -160 on the moneyline. Maryland guard, Melo Trimble, was the star of the game in scoring a team-leading 18 points and sinking the game-winning shot. He’s been consistently good all season too in averaging 21.1 points per game.

Maryland’s roster is quite young, and 3 true freshman see considerable playing time. Freshman forward, Justin Jackson, leads the teams in rebounds with 7.1 per game, while freshman guard, Anthony Cowan, leads the team in assists with 3.9 per game. The other freshman seeing over 26 minutes per game is 6’ 7” Kevin Huerter, who recorded a double-double in the overtime win against Richmond.

Pittsburgh is coming off of a 13-point win at home versus Morehead State as a 12.5-point favorite, just covering the spread. Instead of being led by freshmen, the Panthers have a senior-laden team. Seniors Jamel Artis and Michael Young led the team in scoring against Morehead State, scoring 17 and 20 points, respectively. Those seniors, as well as Sheldon Jeter, lead Pittsburgh in points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots per game. Senior swingman, Chris Jones, averages 31.5 minutes per game. The only non-senior logging more than 20 minutes is junior 6’ 8” guard, Cameron Johnson, who has hit 8-12 3-pointers in his last two games played. Bottom line, the Panthers are an experienced team.

This will be Pittsburgh’s first true road game of the season, as their other two games away from home were on neutral courts. They’ve been pretty bad on the road lately, going 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games. The Terrapins are also bad as a favorite, going 0-3-1 in their last five in that situation. In this game, I’m going to take experience over youth, though, as Pittsburgh’s 20-43-2 ATS record in their last 65 games should start evening out as these seniors start their final campaign. This game could be very close, so have Pittsburgh and the 4 points they are getting in your back pocket at tip off.